Leer.



PATENTED FEIB. 5, 1907.

S. F. FIELD.

LEER.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 5. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Inventor MM2-S Attorn-eys Wltnesses I I /fff 4 l No. 843,264. PATENTEDFEB. 5, 1907. S. P. FIELD.

LEER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

y Witness@ lnventor.

l Attorneys 1H; NoRRls ParsRs ca.. wAsHmoraN. D4 c.

SAMUEL F. FIELD, OF FINDLAY, OHIO.

LEER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

atented Feb. 5, 1907'.

Application filed October 5, 1905- Serial No. 281,510.

To all who/1t t nfl/ty concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL F. FIELD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Findlay, in the county of Hancock and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Leer, of which the following is aspecification.

'lh'is invention relates to leers for glasshouses, and has for itsobject the production of an improved conveyer for carrying the productof the plant through any portion thereof. It is proposed to avoidelevating the glass after leaving the flattening-wheel or other portionof the plant, and therefore VI employ an endless-conveyer mechanism, soas to carry the plates always through the upper portion of the tunnel,whereby the glass is not subjected to any drafts of cold air which mayenter at the bottom of the tunnel.

A still further object is to provide for supporting the glass while intransit upon anti- `friction-rollers in addition to the support affordedby the traveling elements of the conveyer in order that the glass maynot become cracked and broken by sagging of the conveyer under theweight of the glass. 1n other words, it is designed to relieve thetraveling elements of the conveyer of the weight of the glass and tocarry the saine upon a non-yieldable support7 along which the@V areconveyed by the traveling conveyor elements in a very simple andefficient manner.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter morefully described, shown in theaceompanying drawings, and particularlypointed out in the appended claiins, it being understood that changes inthe form, proportion, size, and niinor details may be 'made within thescope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyof the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a leer, the topof the tunnel being broken away to disclose the features of the presentinvention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the eonveyer with the tunnelbroken away. Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of thesupporting-frame of the conveyer. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a similar view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig.6 is a detail perspective view of one of the brackets employed in the.construction of the present device.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each andevery -ligure of the drawings.

1n Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings I have shown the wall portions 1 of thetunnel of a leer or glassdurnace. A portion 2 of any conventional formof flattening-wheel has been indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. vithinthe tunnel and extending transversely across the saine is a series of Tebeams 3, having their ends seated in the walls of the tunnel, whichsupport a series of longitudinal inverted-T bars 4, which overlap oneedge portion of the flattening-whcel and have their other endsprojecting externally of the outer end of the tunnel. Each longitudinalbar is connected to each crossbar by a bracket 5, which includes anupstanding web portion having a substantially horizontal [lange 6 at itsupper end to overlap the flange of the bar 4, there being a bottomsubstantially horizontal flange 7, carried by the lower edge of the web5 and underlapping the bar 4. The upper side of the 'flange 7 atone endthereof is cut away to provide a seat or recess 8 Vfor the reception ofthe flanged 'portion of the adjacent T-beani 3, there being suitablefastenings t) piercing the bracket. and the ilanges, so as to rigidlyconnect the beam and the bar.

At regular intervals throughout each longitudinal bar 4 are groovedrollers 10, each of which is supported upon a horizontal axis 11,carried by the upstanding portion of the bar, the upper peripheralportion of' the roller rising a suitable distance above the top of thebar. Running across the tops of these rollers is an endless conveyerelement 12, preferably a chain, which runs around a relatively large giride-roller 13, carried by the rear end of the bar and projecting bothabove and below the same, so as to carry the lower ply of the chainbeneath the bar. Hangers 14 depend at suitable intervals from the barand carry the grooved rollers 15, over which the lower ply o'f the chaintravels. As clearly indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, eachhanger 14 is provided at its upper end with a horizontally-disposedsubstantially U-shaped bracket 16, which embraces the flange of theadjacent bar, to which it is rigidly connected by a threaded fastening17. 'lhe brackets 1G and the rollers 1() are upon opposite sides of thelongitudinal bar, and each of the hangers 14 is disposed in the IOO samevertical plane with the web of the bar in order that the rollers 1() and15 may lie in the same vertical plane.

Disposed transversely across the front ends of the bars 4 is ahorizontal shaft 18, mounted in suitable bearings 19 and carrying aseries of sprocket-wheels 20, one for each of the chains 12, which passaround the adjacent sprocket and thence upwardly and rearwardly to achain or belt tightening device, including a hanger 21, depending fromthe bottom of the adjacent bar 4 and carrying a bracket 22, which isadjustable longitudinally of the hanger and carries a grooved roller orpulley 23, over which the lower ply of the belt or chain passes. lt willhere be explained that there is a belt-tightener of this description foreach of thev belts or chains, and all of the belt-tighteners are locatedexternally of the tunnel in order that they may be convenientlyaccessible for tightening the belts when the furnace is in operation,thereby to avoid shutting down of the furnace Whenever it becomesnecessary to tighten the belts. The shaft 18 is controlled by means of ahand-wheel 24, carried by one end of the shaft.

ln practice a workman standing at the iiattening-wheel transfers a glassplate from the wheel to the rear or inner end of the conveyer in theusual manner by means of the ordinary tongs, whereupon the plate issupported by the antifriction-rollers 10 and is carried along by theconveyer belts or chains. It will here be explained that each glassplate is supported by the rollers 10 in addition to the support affordedby the chains or belts, whereby the rollers 10 constitute a rigidsupport for the plates, and the latter are not cracked and broken aswhen supported directly upon the flexible traveling elements only of aconveyer. ln addition to supporting the glass plates the rollers 10constitute antifriction-supports for the conveyer# belts. fhile l haveshown grooved rollers 10, I may employ sprocket-wheels.

By reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings it will be noted that therollersAlO of each longitudinal series are staggered with respect to therollers of the adjacent series, whereby the rollers of successive seriesare in alinement transversely of the series, so as to effectuallysupport the glass plates. It is preferred to have the rollers staggeredrather than to have the corresponding rollers of the several series intransverse alinement, for the reason that the staggered arrangementaffords the necessary support for the glass plates and at the same timereduces the number of rollers.

It is preferred to locate the conveyer within the top of the tunnel, soas to maintain the glass plates in the hottest portion thereof, therebyto avoid damage to the plates by changes in temperature. Moreover, theplates are maintained at a constant elevation when in transit throughthe tunnel, and are therefore not subjected to any lifting actions,which tend to break and injure the plates.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is# 1. ln a leerthe combination with a tunnel, of T-shaped cross-bars extending acrossthe tunnel, inverted-T-shaped longitudinal bars supported upon thecross-bars, substantially U-shaped brackets connecting the bars at theirpoints of crossing, each bracket being of substantially U shape andembracing the flange of one of the bars, the lower side of the bracketbeing reduced in its upper face at one end to engage beneath the ange ofthe adj acent crossing-bar, the upper side of the bracket beingprojected longitudinally beyond the reduced side to overlap the upperside of the flange of said crossing-bar, and fastenings to hold thebrackets in place.

2. ln a leer the combination with a tunnel; of T-shaped cross-barsext-ending across the tunnel, inverted-Teshaped longitudinal barssupported upon the cross-bars, substantially U-shaped bracketsconnecting the bars at their points of crossing, each bracket being ofsubstantially U shape and embracing the flange of one of the bars, thelower side of the bracket being reduced in its upper face at one end toengage beneath the flange of the adjacent cross-bar, the upper side ofthe bracket being projected longitudinally beyond the reduced side tooverlap the upper side of the flange of said cross-bar, fastenings tohold the brackets in place, antifriction-rollers j ournaled in the sidesof the longitudinal bars with their peripheries projecting above thetops thereof, and a series of endless conveyer belts traveling over therollers.

ln testimony that l claim the foregoing as my own l have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

his SAMUEL F. FIELD.

markj fitnesses Jol-1N W. GRIMM, Ross J. WETHERALD.

IOC)

